Burevestnik Nuclear Missile Tests Successful, Russia Says

Russia has successfully tested its nuclear-powered and nuclear-capable Burevestnik missile and is preparing to deploy it, President Vladimir V. Putin said Sunday, a pointed message to the West after plans for a summit with President Trump collapsed.

Because the weapon runs on nuclear power, it can fly for much longer than other missiles can, and, the Kremlin says, is capable of evading missile defense systems.

“This is a unique product that no one in the world has,” Mr. Putin said during a meeting with the chief of the general staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Valery V. Gerasimov, and other military commanders, according to a video released by the Kremlin. “We need to identify potential uses and begin preparing the infrastructure for deploying this weapon in our armed forces,” Mr. Putin continued.

Mr. Putin, dressed in a military uniform, listened as Mr. Gerasimov announced that the test had taken place on Tuesday, and that the missile had remained in flight for 15 hours and flown 8,700 miles. Mr. Gerasimov also said combat training launches of Yars and Sineva intercontinental ballistic missiles and two Kh-102 cruise missiles had taken place, which Mr. Putin said “once again confirmed the reliability of Russia’s nuclear shield.”

The Burevestnik, which is also called the SSC-X-9 Skyfall, is named for the storm petrel, a bird that some believe foreshadows a storm. The weapon has been in the works for many years, and analysts say its successful test does not come as a surprise. Still, it is cause for concern, according to Jeffrey Lewis, a nuclear nonproliferation expert at Middlebury College.

“It is a tiny flying Chernobyl,” he said, referring to the former power plant in Ukraine that became synonymous with nuclear disaster after it exploded in 1986.